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“Boris Shtokolov (March 19, 1930 - January 6, 2005) was a famous Soviet and Russian singer, one of the greatest basses of the 20th century. Born in the city of Kuznetsk, Kemerovo Oblast, he entered the Ural State Conservatory in Sverdlovsk (now Yekaterinburg) in 1949, but wanted to became a military pilot. Georgy Zhukov having heard his singing said: ‘There are many guys like you in aviation, but in opera singing you are unique’. In 1950-1951 he was singing at the Sverdlovsk Philharmonic Society before he became a soloist at the Sverdlovsk Opera and Ballet Theater. In 1959 he was invited to the Mariinsky Theatre in Leningrad where he gained world fame as a leading soloist from 1959 to 1989. At the Mariinsky Theater he sang a great number of rôles, such as Ruslan, Don Basilio, Boris Godunov, Ivan Susanin, the title role in Anton Rubinstein's THE DEMON, Prince Gremin, Mefistofele, and many others.”